The present invention relates to an imaging cartridge used for image forming apparatuses such as copying machines, facsimile machines, printers, and multi-functional machines.
For enhancing maintenanceability, an imaging cartridge has been known which can be loaded into and unloaded from an image forming apparatus body by providing such devices as an image bearing body, a charging device, a developing device, a transfer device, a cleaning device in the form of cartridges (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publications 2002-268356 and 2005-107141). In this kind of imaging cartridge, with respect to a new toner box for storing unused toner to be fed to the developing device and a waste toner box for storing waste toner collected by the cleaning device, the following two aspects are generally known.
In the first aspect, the new toner box and waste toner box are consumable items independent of the imaging cartridge. In the second aspect, both of the new toner box and waste toner box are integrated with the imaging cartridge.
However, the first aspect increases the number of consumable items, resulting in complicated replacement procedures. Further, the second aspect requires replacement of the imaging cartridge for such reasons as exhaustion of the toner in the new toner box (toner empty) and the waste toner filling of the waste toner box (waste toner full) even if expensive components included in the imaging cartridge have not yet expired in life, thereby causing increase in total cost for ownership (TCO).
In order to solve these problems, it would be conceivable that the imaging cartridge is so structured that the new toner box and waste toner box are integrated with each other and are made detachable from the imaging cartridge so as to achieve both of the simplification of consumable item replacement procedures and the reduction in TCO. In the case of adopting this structure, it is necessary, with respect to the new toner box, to promptly feed toner to a predetermined section to the developing device. Further, with respect to the waste toner box, it is necessary to certainly prevent the leakage and scattering of toner during loading into and unloading from the image forming apparatus body.
However, those issues have not been addressed in the conventional imaging cartridges including those disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publications 2002-268356 and JP 2005-107141. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publications 2002-268356 and JP 2005-107141 merely disclose, with respect to the new toner box detachable from the imaging cartridge, a mechanism for ensuring opening and closing of a shutter provided at a delivery opening to deliver toner to the developing device.